White House in Bloom

Throughout the history of the White House and the grounds surrounding it, visitors have commented on the trees and foliage that continually add to the beauty of the grounds. In 1791, Washington city planner Pierre (Peter) Charles L’Enfant reserved approximately eighty-two acres surrounding the White House as a park. This area came to be known as “President’s Park.” Thomas Jefferso

Nicholas Stefanos “Steve” Vasilakes emigrated from Ligerea, Greece, to the United States in 1910 and soon thereafter set up his hot peanuts and fresh popped popcorn cart on what actually was White House property. He listed his business address as “1732 Pennsylvania Avenue” and reporters observed he came to represent the “little man” in America. He was described as a “burly, fierce mustached Gree

April showers might bring May flowers, but White House florists keep the Executive Mansion in bloom year-round. Today the White House Chief Floral Designer and her staff have a flower shop in the basement of the mansion, beneath the North Portico. They create and maintain arrangements for display in the public and private rooms of the White House and design

The annual White House Easter egg roll was a well-established tradition when President Herbert Hoover took office, and the Hoovers were present on April Fools’ Day, 1929 to observe their first Easter egg roll take place. First Lady Lou Henry Hoover put her own imprint on the event by ordering part of the South Lawn roped off so maypole dances and Na

Few first ladies have been so attuned to the natural beauty inside and outside the White House as First Lady Claudia Johnson, or “Lady Bird.” Famed for her environmental work, she brought a sense of the floral to everything she did, from wide-ranging legislation to small touches of hospitality.Mrs. Johnson’s White House entertaining style often included an homage to the

The history of the white house grounds begins nearly two centuries before the construction of the house itself. Sailing up the Potomac River in 1608, Captain John Smith and the members of his exploring party became the first non-Native Americans to lay eyes on the future site of the presidential mansion. Algonquin and Nacotchtankes people already called the area home, and

Many people consider raccoons to be pests and nuisances. These nocturnal mammals are often found rummaging through trash cans, dumpsters, and alleyways, looking for anything of subsistence. Their scavenging can be quite vexing to property owners and tenants, who are left to clean up the messes they leave behind. The staff of the White House and the National Park Service